Hong Kong Airlines cautious on expansion in wake of Cathay Dragon shutdown, with focus on Covid-19 survival

Hong Kong Airlines, the city’s third-largest carrier, is cautious about expanding after the closure of hometown rival Cathay Dragon, according to a company executive, with the focus still on its own survival amid the Covid-19 pandemic. A member of the cash-strapped Chinese aviation conglomerate HNA Group, the airline also said it was unable to hire any of the estimated 2,500 Dragon cabin and cockpit crew made redundant on Wednesday. The aviation landscape was rocked after Hong Kong’s largest carrier Cathay Pacific shut down its smaller sister airline Cathay Dragon, as part of a sweeping overhaul leading to 5,900 jobs axed worldwide. Dragon served 51 regional destinations and mainland China, with the routes to become available for bidding from other airlines. Cathay Pacific, along with its other subsidiary HK Express, has said it was eyeing most of the routes. Hong Kong Airlines is also seen as likely to benefit. Ricky Chong Wai-ki, director of corporate governance and development at Hong Kong Airlines, said: “If there are available slots and traffic rights, of course it would be an opportunity to other airlines, but we need to see the situation and also make an evaluation afterwards. Even if they reallocate the traffic rights, no matter to whom – Cathay Pacific or us – it’s still hard to well utilise, or fully utilise [the routes] under the situation of the pandemic.” <br/>